Above: cross section of an eightfold imager. Below: cut-out view of the same imager. The blue lines illlustrate the path the light follows as it moves from aperture to light sensor. Credit: UC San Diego

In the laboratory, the engineers compared a 5 millimeter thick, 8-fold imager optimized to focus on objects 2.5 meters away with a conventional high-resolution, compact camera lens with a 38 millimeter focal length.